Robert Frost

On this date in 1874, Robert Frost was born in San Francisco. His family relocated to New England when his father died. In 1892, Frost married Elinor White, with whom he was co-valedictorian at Lawrence High School. Although Frost later served as poet in residence and professor of literature at several universities, he never received a degree from Dartmouth or Harvard, both of which he attended. Frost and his young wife moved to England for a time, where he found success as a poet and was influenced by the work of Rupert Brooke, Robert Graves and friend Ezra Pound. The couple returned to New England, where his first two books of poetry were published to great acclaim in 1915, A Boy's Will and North of Boston, followed by many other books of poetry. Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize four times. Frost was sly in revealing his position on religion, telling freethought encyclopedist Warren Allen Smith (Who's Who in Hell) that the answer was to be found in his work. (See sample below.) D. 1963.

''The kind of Unitarian

Who having by elimination got

From many gods to Three, and Three to One,

Thinks why not taper off to none at all.''

Robert Frost (1874-1963), U.S. poet. "A Masque of Mercy."

Not All There

“I turned to speak to God About the world's despair But to make bad matters worse I found God wasn't there.”